Saturday, September 7, 2019

Janis Joplin Essay Example for Free

Janis Joplin Essay Perhaps Ralph Waldo Emerson was right and may as well have referred to Janis Joplin as he was saying this quotation had he lived during Joplin’s time. With her death at a young age of 27, it had been a short-lived life the musical genius Janis Joplin had. We may not know whether or not her cousins can tell nothing about her but her life deserves to be relived and I am here to write about it. A look into the context in which she lived will help give a better understanding of how the course of her life was influenced and came to be the way it was. Janis Joplin is one of the most prominent individuals in the 1960s, an era considered to be a revolution of sorts. Beginnings On the morning of January 19, 1943, Janis Lyn was born to be the eldest child of Seth and Dorothy Joplin. It was years later that she would have younger siblings Michael and Laura making them a middle-class family composing of five members. Growing up in an industrial town called Port Arthur in Texas crowded with oil refineries, chemical plants, factories, and rows of oil-storage tanks with fumes hanging in the air, it wasn’t the best place to satisfy the brilliant and inquisitive little Janis as there wasn’t much room for activities and recreations. Although that was the case, she did well in school, having a great interest and aptitude for reading and painting. As a child, she already had a reputation for singing as one of the soloists in their church choir. According to one of her friends, she had been popular in Port Arthur as a talented and cute little girl. Janis considered her childhood as relatively pleasant. It was only at the age of fourteen, as confessed in many of her various interviews, that she felt like the world turned on her. That was the time she gained weight and had acne problems, problems which meant most than anything for teenagers. The eventual lost of her looks coincided badly with her entry to the highschool world where the popular girls were the ones with good looks and Janis just fell behind (Echols, 2000). While at the Thomas Jefferson highschool, Janis took rejection by heart (Amburn, 1993). Used to having attention on her, she started acting out and whilst she began to receive attention, she even emphasized her being different. She was determined to keep the attention on her even if it was a negative one. She became a beatnik girl who would flaunt her eccentric clothes ranging from above-the-knee skirts, black or purple tights coupled with liking unconventional and ‘different’ liberal arts and music. As Echols put it, â€Å"she was bent on becoming an eyesore, an affront to everything the townspeople believed in. Indeed, Janis was eager to defy as many social conventions as she could. This made her parents unhappy- â€Å"she just changed totally, overnight† quoting her mother Dorothy. As an underage girl, her defiant attitude was too much that one incident happened involving the police after she took a ride with her male friends who were overage. This made her even more the topic of talks and gossips around their Pleasantville of a town. She was much into music and drinking, acting as if these two things are wedded. And this always gets her into trouble. She was often sent to the counselor’s office for misbehavior and drinking (Echols, 2000). Her parents were baffled and felt helpless. Joplin’s rebellious proclivity was unwavering, she just wanted to be different and be free to express herself. Little did they know that Janis’ rebellious actions symbolize the beginning of an inevitable social revolution and an â€Å"emerging generation gap† that was about to come(Echols, 2000). The fact was: it wasn’t just Joplin; it was going to be a collective movement. The Sixties was well on its way. The Sixties†, as it is often used in popular culture by some journalists, historians and other academes, has seen many varied influential and transforming trends in culture and ideologies which can be described as nothing less than exciting, powerful, radical and even rebellious. It was a time when people are trying to break free from the rigid and conformist social norms and social constraints in search for individual freedom (Booker, 1970). It could be said that this period of history has a great impact on Janis Joplin and further influenced not only her genius but how her entire life turned out. Musical Inclination Music would eventually become a passion for Joplin. Aside from singing in their local church choir, Janis developed her musical interest further after befriending a group of outsiders as a teenager. She and this gang would listen and idolize African-American Blues artists such as Leadbelly whose album was the first she claimed she ever purchased (Echols, 2000). During highschool she continued listening to blues music and listened to other blues artists like Bessie Smith, Big Mama Thornton and Odetta. And even later on, she will begin singing blues and folks songs together with some friends, imitating the artists’ husky yet soulful voices. Amburn, 1993). She always had a gut feel about her singing ability but it wasn’t until she imitated Odetta and performed one of her songs which stunned her friends that she she confirmed, she indeed â€Å"has a voice. † Her early efforts included playing in coffee houses in their small town. Talent, Notoriety and Fame In 1963, she left for San Francisco and found herself residing in North Beach. She also ventured to other places like Venice, the Village, New York and Haight-Ashbury acquiring further experiences and experimenting on her music and creativity. It wasn’t just a year ago that she started taping her first song at a friend’s house and a year after she would record more songs with her friends Jorma Kaukonen and Martha Kaukonen providing her accompaniments. An album called Typewriter tape will be released containing seven tracks including â€Å"Long Black Train Blues,† â€Å"Nobody Knows You When Youre Down and Out,† â€Å"Typewriter Talk,† Kansas City Blues,† â€Å"Trouble In Mind,† â€Å" Hesitation Blues,† and â€Å"Daddy, Daddy, Daddy† . As the Sixties progress, various movements are emerging from the left and right. The counterculture and social revolution was spreading. A popular term emerged as the hippies, a youth movement characterized strongly by a shift towards a more liberated society. It includes the questioning groups created a movement toward liberation in society, including sexual revolution, questioning of authority and government, fighting for the freedom and rights of the marginalized groups including Negroes, women, homosexuals, and minorities. The use of marijuana, heroine, LSD and various others drugs and listening to psychedelic music were also rampant. Janis would not be left behind and took part in these movements. Joplin’s waywardness continued well into those years. Around that time, she increased her drug use and took on a reputation as a frequent heroine user and a thrill-freak (Amburn, 1993). She was also heavy on alcohol and other intoxicants and even engaged in sexual high. In 1965, she was described as skeletal, even emaciated due to the effects of her amphetamine use (Amburn, 1993). For some time, she was convinced by her friends to become sober and to refrain from drug use. An old friend and then manager Chet Helms of a group called Big Brother was attracted by Joplin’s bluesy voice. On June 4, 1966, Joplin officially joined the band. Their first public performance was in San Francisco at the Avalon Ballroom. Her drug use was kept at bay with the help of her friends who she lived within a communal apartment (Friedman, 1992). They signed a deal with Mainstream Records on the 23rd of August of 1966. A year after, the band released their debut album by Columbia Records. Joplin and her band gradually gained fame after several follow-up performances including those in Monterey Pop Festival, appearances in television such as The Dick Cavett Show. She received positive reviews from various magazines labelling her as a powerful singer and a staggering woman of rock and roll. Eventually, she would leave the Big Brother band and went for a solo career and would later form a band called the Kozmic Blues and another group, which she would call her as her own called the Full Tilt Boogie Band. After breaking up again with the band, she recorded several songs which would be released after her death and would become the highest-selling album of her career. It included the best hit single †Me and Bobby McGee†, a cover of Kris Kristofferson’s who had been her ex-lover. Janis Joplin died on October 4, 1970 at the age of 27 years. Legacy Janis Joplin can be considered as the Queen of Rock and Roll in the late 1960s. She was a music icon which would influence the music scene in the years to come. She was an established female star who had success in a male-dominant music scene. Fans and musical experts alike would consider her songs as immortal and contiunes to influence modern day music and artists. She also made contributions to the fashion industry. The way she dressed herself had been another avenue for her self-expression. In interview after interviews, she would update the media of her latest fashion statement from her clothes, to her hair styles, hair accessories, body decorations, and body accessories. She would also affect the movie industry influencing and inspiring movie directors, actors and actresses such as Better Midler especially in the 1979 film entitled The Rose which would garner her an academy nomination for her performance as Janis Joplin. Other films were also produced based on her life including Gospel According to Janis. A musical play was composed in the 1990s, which will then win a praise and be lauded together with the outstanding performances of the artists who would play Janis. She would also receive posthumous awards including the Grammy Lifetime Achievment and the induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In the arts, some of her personal artifacts including the Porsche she owned were displayed in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Musuem Exhibition which will serve as a testimony to the psychedelic era dubbed as â€Å"The Summer of Love- Art of the Psychedelic Era†. This made people reminisce to that nostalgic and definitely not-forgotten era of the human history. Truly, Janis Joplin was a genius not only of her time but her genius continues to live and influence various industried today.

Friday, September 6, 2019

Arthur Miller, A View from the Bridge Essay Example for Free

Arthur Miller, A View from the Bridge Essay The relationships in ‘A View from the Bridge’ are very complex as because of people’s attitudes back then. There is secrecy, suspicion, love and concern. Eddie is weirdly attracted to Catherine and his relationship with his wife Beatrice deteriorates. The relationship between Eddie and Catherine is very close, although they are not immediate family Eddie has become a surrogate father and thinks of himself as her real father. He is very protective of his daughter and would probably die for her, but this first innocent love perverts into a weird incest like love for his niece. Eddie still treats her like she is five although she is going out into the big wide world, this shocks Eddie and it makes him closer to her and more possessive which turns ugly when Rodolfo is introduced. At the start of the play Eddie has a go at his daughter about what she is wearing, ‘Catherine I don’t want to be a pest†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.  Walkin’ wavy’. This shows he has genuine concern for his daughter similar to how modern fathers would react today; this is more of an example to show how much he loves her like a father rather than a lover. He also doesn’t want to let go for his ‘daughter’ and tries to shoot down any discussion of a job, ‘near the navy yard†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Longshoremen’ he is unreasonably disagreeing with any suggestions of a real job for Catherine which just amplifies his blatant love for her. Catherine and Beatrice’s relationship is very different to the relationship between Eddie Catherine, Beatrice wants the best for Catherine and wants her to go get the job and wants her to leave, and she is more positive than Eddie and less caring for her. This could be that she was not as committed to the adoption of Catherine compared to Eddie, but also as she has had less to lose because Eddie has paid for her to go through school and to live, whereas Bea is probably getting a little sick of her hanging about. She is very supportive of Catherine’s independence ‘Well I don’t understand when it’s going †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. It’s an honour for her’. Catherine is also less fond of her and cares more for her uncle as he is the man of the family and provides for her and doesn’t feel for Bea as much because she had less of a role in bringing her up over the years. The relationship between Bea and Eddie starts of normal as the play starts innocent and all happy families but hen as the play progresses Bea starts to notice changes about how Eddie is acting towards her. As Eddie is spending more time chasing Catherine around he is spending less time with his wife and she becomes distraught and upset and also starts to understand why this is happening. Because of Bea realising his it explains why she is so keen for her to become independent and leave because it would be better for everyone if she did leave. ‘When am I going to be a wife again Eddie? ’ shows how upset she is becoming and Eddie doesn’t seem to care about her and tries to ignore the conversation and not provide her with a straight answer. The play basically steers the whole relationship systems so that Eddie and Bea come off worse while Eddie and Catherine gets better. It is obvious that Eddie starts to stop caring about Bea and more about Catherine; Catherine doesn’t seem to notice the weird attraction that Eddie has towards her and carries on like normal. And the more she is around the worse Eddie will get and the more attracted the will become. So Arthur miller presents the family as a normal generic happy family that during the course of the play deteriorates into a weird perverted relationship.

Thursday, September 5, 2019

Effect of Oxidative Stress on HAGE Expression

Effect of Oxidative Stress on HAGE Expression Cancer is a group of diseases which involves uncontrolled cell growth, metastasis and invasion of cells to other tissues via lymph node or blood. Cancer is caused by many factors such as (i) Chemicals such as tobacco, alcohol, asbestos etc., (ii) Viral infections such as Human Papiloma Virus, Epstin Barr Virus, hepatitis B, C etc., (iii) Ionizing radiations such as X-Rays, UV-Rays, Gamma Rays etc., (iv) Hereditary factors such as mutations in BRCA 1 and BRCA 2, p53 mutations, APC gene mutations, Retinoblastoma gene mutation etc., (v) Hormones which promote growth proliferation such as growth hormones, estrogen, progesterone etc. Cancer is classified into malignant and benign tumours. Malignant tumours are mostly liquid tumours which metastasize to other tissues via lymph node and blood. Benign tumours are mostly solid tumours which stay at one particular tissue and seldom migrate. Malignant and Benign tumours are re classified on the type of cell and tissue from which they originate. They are classified as follows: i) Carcinomas: These are the malignancies of the epithelial cells, which line the internal organs of the body and also present on the surface the body such as skin. ii) Sarcomas: These are solid tumours present in connective tissues such as bones and lymph systems (Crowley 2006) Furthermore the tumours are classified according to (i) site of origin as in lung cancer, breast cancer etc., (ii) type of cell such as rhabdomyosarcoma and acute lymphocytic leukaemia. (Ruddon 2007) The progression from a normal cell to malignant one involves the dysregulation of genes implicated in the control of normal proliferation / death over many years. These are normal functions regulated by proto-oncogenes and tumour suppressor genes. Proto-Oncogene And Tumour Suppressor Gene Protooncogene is found to be normally expressed in all vertebrates including humans. It is also found to be expressed in some insects and yeasts. Protooncogenes play an important role regulating normal cell growth and differentiation. They also perform functions such as signal transduction and mitogenic signal execution RAS, MYC, TRK, ERK are some examples of protooncogenes (Novakofski 1991). Oncogenes are derived from protooncogenes during the process of carcinogenesis. The formation of active oncogene leads to abnormal cell proliferation and thus contributes to the formation of tumour (Alitalo and Schwab 1986). A protooncogene can be converted into an oncogene in a variety of ways such as (i)Transduction induced by retroviruses which cause the integration viral DNA with the host. This DNA on translation give rise to viral proteins which cause the activation of protooncogene, thereby leading to cancer. (ii) Mutation within the protooncogene leading to an increased activity of the pr otein. (iii) chromosomal translocation where the gene for proto oncogene is translocated to other loci, which cause its abnormal expression. For eg in the translocation of abl in chromosome 9 to bcr region chromosome 22 as found in Philadelphia chromosome (Rowley 1973) (iv) Amplification induced by gene duplication, mis-regulation of gene which leads to overexpression of protooncogenes. (Todd and Munger 1999) Unlike oncogenes, the tumour suppressor genes normally inhibit cell growth in variety of ways such as (i) repressing the genes important for cell cycle progression. For eg., pRb (retinoblastoma ) controls the G1 stage by being hypophosphoryated and not allowing the release of transcription factor E2F which promotes G1-S transition. (ii) Stopping cell cycle on detecting DNA damage. DNA damage induces p53 which now leaves from its interacting partner Mdm2 and increases the activity of p21. This p21 protein then inactivates cyclin dependent kinases which are essential for cell cycle progression, (iii) Apoptosis may also be promoted by p53 when damage is irreversible. (iv) inducing DNA repair proteins to repair DNA damage and prevent abnormal cell proliferation. (Yoshida, et al. 2000) There are a number of mechanisms by which a cancer cell survives in a body. This is illustrated in the diagram below.(Weinberg and Hanahan, 2000) Treatment The choice of therapy depends upon the location and stage / grade of the tumour, as well as the health of the patient. There are a number of therapies for treating cancer such as surgery, chemotherapy, radiaotherapy, hormonal therapy etc., The deregulation of many genes in cancer cells leads to the over-expression of altered proteins which can be used as biomarker which can provide help for the diagnosis and / prognosis of the treatment but can also be used as potential target for immunotherapy. Cancer antigens and their classification Tumour antigen is an antigenic substance produced in the tumour cells and triggers an immune reaction in the host. They are useful in identifying tumour cells and are used in cancer therapy. Tumour antigens are classified as Cancer testis antigen, Differentiation antigens, Tumour specific unique antigens, Overexpressed Self Antigens, Viral antigens, Post-translationally, Oncofoetal antigens, Idiotypic Antigens as shown in the table below Copied from (Li, et al. 2005) Amongst all these categories, cancer testis antigen represent the most promising group of antigen to be used in future immunotherapeutic interventions due to their restricted expression to mainly to tumour cells with the exception of placenta and testis which are immune-privileged sites and therefore would not pose any real issue for the risk of autoimmunity.(Simpson, et al. 2005) HAGE HAGE also known as DDX43 and CT13 antigen belongs to this category of antigens and was first identified by Martelange et al using cDNA subtraction approach of a human sarcoma cell line.(Martelange, et al. 2000)Using rational hybrid analysis, it was found that HAGE gene is located on chromosome 6. HAGE was found to be overexpressed in several tumours. There is a low expression of HAGE in normal tissues since the expression is regulated by hypermethylation HAGE is also over expressed in tissues such as testis, placenta, and ovaries. HAGE is usually expressed at the m-RNA level though recent studies in melanoma cells suggest that HAGE could also be expressed at the protein level.(Mathieu, et al. 2010) The name DDX43 comes from the fact that HAGE also belongs to another group of protein known as Dead box proteins and referred to as DDX43. (Abdelhaleem 2004) Dead box proteins These proteins were discovered in the late 1980s. (Gorbalenya, et al. 1989)Dead box proteins belong to the family of RNA helicases and play an important role in the transcription, post transcriptional modifications such as splicing, transport, translation, decay and biogenesis of ribosomes. NTP hydrolysis provides energy to these enzymes and they unwind dsRNA or disrupt RNA-Protein interaction. DDX and DHX are widely studied Dead Box Proteins. There are many classes of DDX and HAGE belongs to DDX43. They are so named because they contain the amino acids D-E-A-D (Asp-Glu-Ala-Asp) in one of their motifs namely Motif II. Besides they also contain motifs such as motif I, Q-motif, motif VI, motif Ia, Ib, III, IV and V as shown in the diagram below. These motifs bestow properties such as ATP binding and hydrolysis, RNA interaction, remodelling activity etc to these proteins. The consensus sequence of DEAD box family is shown below Copied from (Linder 2006) Regulation and Function of HAGE Both function and regulation of HAGE have not been studied in great detail (Scanlan, Simpson and Old 2004). In normal tissues HAGE expression is regulated by DNA hypermethylation, Histone modifications such as histone aceylation, histone deacylation and histone methylation. However in cancer, there could be many mechanisms of upregulation of HAGE. The most commonly thought mechanism is the demethylation of DNA which leads to HAGE over-expression. (Roman-Gomez, et al. 2007) HAGE could also be induced due to transformation of normal cells during cancer or due to the action of oncogenes. HAGE might also be induced randomly. HAGE may play a role in pre-mRNA splicing, ribosome biogenesis, transcription and initiation of translation. (Rocak and Linder 2004) This project will focus on Head and Neck Cancer. Head and Neck Cancer Head and Neck cancer are the cancers that arise from the upper aerodigestive tract such as nasal cavity, oral cavity, pharynx, larynx and paranasal sinuses. Most of them are of squamous cell carcinoma type of the head and neck and have been given the acronym -SCCHN or HNSCC. (Argiris, et al. 2008). The diagram of the anatomy of the head and neck is illustrated below Copied from (Wu, et al. 2009) More than half a million patients are diagnosed with head and neck cancer every year. Head and Neck cancer in fact accounts for more than 3-10% of the cancers(Gourin and McMains 2005). Smoking, alcohol, chewing of betel leaf with tobacco and areca are the major risk factors for this cancer. Recently, HPV type 16 has been identified as one of the causes for head and neck cancer and account for 40% (Goodger and McGurk 2000) The progression of this tumour is complicated. It progresses from the normal features to hyperplasia, mild dysplasia, moderate dysplasia, severe dysplasia, carcinoma, invasive carcinoma and metastasis. The progression may be caused by due to genetic instabilities such as loss of heterozygosity of chromosome 9p21, inactivation of of p16 and loss of 3p, loss of 18q, inactivation of PTEN, some translocations, 17Beta heterozygosity or TP53 mutation. (Argiris, et al. 2008) Copied from (Argiris, et al. 2008) Interestingly HAGE was found the John van Geest group to be overexpressed in 40% of HNSCC cancers (unpublished data) and although much of its function is now emerging no information exist at the moment regarding the regulation of its expression. However it has been observed that cells left for longer period of time in the incubator had a significantly higher expression of HAGE at the mRNA and protein level. Aim of this project The observation that HAGE was over-expressed in 40% of HNSCC led to hypothesis that cells under stress i.e lack of nutrients, decrease oxygen level, as well as other factors influence HAGE expression. Moreover it has been found that HAGE is also expressed in 20% of Acute Myeloid Leukemia and 50% Chronic Myeloid Leukemia as well as many solid tumours such as HNSCC (Adams, et al. 2002). This suggests that there must be something in common between these 2 very different forms of cancer. CML and solid tumours are known to have a high expression of reactive oxygen species (ROS), therefore it might be possible that ROS induces HAGE expression. Thus this project will focus on the effect of oxidative stress has on HAGE expression. The effect of other stress such as temperature may also be investigated. METHODS Cell Culture The PCI 13 and PCI 30 cell lines would be supplied by Prof E Tatour. These cell lines are specific for Head and Neck cancer. The cells would be grown in RPMI 1640 +10%(v/v) FCS+2mM L-glutamine and incubated at 37oC and 5%C02 atmosphere. Extraction of m-RNA The culture media would be removed and washed with DPBS(Dulbeccos phosphate buffer saline). Then DPBS will be removed followed by the addition of RNA-STAT 60. RNA pellets would be then retrieved and re-suspended in ddH2O. RNA extracted is then quantified using NANODROP 8000 UV spectrophotometer. RNA would be then added in measurement wells of the spectrophotometer. The spectrophotometer would be read at 260 and 280nm and the amount of RNA will be calculated. The RNA concentration is calculated in  µg/ µl before being adjusted to 1 µg/ µl by ddH2O. RNA samples would be then stored at -80oC and used for conducting RT-PCR and RTq-PCR in the future. RT-PCR (Reverse Transcriptase PCR) From the extracted RNA cDNA will be synthesized. 2  µg of RNA sample will be mixed with 1  µl of oligo-dT primers and diluted to 15  µl of ddH20 in an Eppendorf tube. All RNA samples would follow the same process. UNO Thermoblock will be used to heat the tubes to 70 °C for 5 min which allows the primer-RNA annealing. 10  µl of reverse transcriptase mix, which will be prepared by mixing Muloney Murine Leukemia Virus 5-X buffer, dNTPs, RNasin RNAse inhibitor, M-MLV-reverse transcriptase and ddH20. The tubes will be then pre-heated in a water bath at 39.2 °C for 80 min which allows cDNA synthesis. Tubes will be removed and kept again in the UNO-Thermoblock and heated to 95 °C for five minutes which stops the reaction. These tubes would be stored at -20 °C for future use. Real Time qPCR cDNA generated from RT PCR will be used as a template and the reagents used will be (i) 6.25 µl iQ Sybr Green, (ii) 0.5 µl gene specific sense primer (iii) 0.5 µl gene specific anti-sense primer, (iv) 4.75  µl ddH20 and 0.5 µl cDNA template. These reagent mixtures will be added to all tubes for a specific gene. Samples will be usually carried out in duplicate with a negative control that contains the reaction mixture without cDNA. Rotogene 6000 real-time qPCR analyser will be used to carry out RT qPCR. Relative gene expression using 2ΔCT method will be calculated with the help of the expression of housekeeping genes HPRT-1, HSP-27 and HSP-90. The primers which will be used in real time qPCR experiment is given below. These primers are supplied by mwg-Eurofins. The primers have a stock concentration of 100pmol/ µl and will be diluted to a working concentration of 10pmol/ µl. From this working 0.5 µl (5pM) of primers will be used. Total Protein extraction Cells will be grown to 75% confluence in T75 flasks. Cells will be trypsinised, washed and re-suspended in DPBS and these cells will be then counted using trypan blue. Cells will be diluted to 1X106/ml using DPBS and 5 X106 cells would be taken in a 1.5ml eppendorf. Centrifugation will be done to pellet the cells. The supernatant will be discarded and lysis buffer containing a cocktail of RIPA buffer and 10% protease inhibitor will be added to the pellet. The eppendorf tube will be then placed on a tube rotator at 4 °C for 30 min. It will be then kept on ice for 30 min. Cells will be again centrifuged at 14000 RPM for 30 min at 4 °C. Aliquot of the supernatant will be prepared to be stored at -20 °C for future use. Total Protein Assay Total protein assay will be carried out using BioRad Dc protein assay reagents. Series of dilutions (0.2,0.4,0.5,0.8,1.0,1.5,2.0mg/ml) will be created using stock BSA solution with the concentration of 10 mg/ml. Protein extracts and standards would be tested in triplicates and duplicates respectively. Assays will be performed in 96-well round bottom plates. 25 µl and 200  µl of reagent A and B will be added to all the samples and the samples will be incubated at room temperature for an hour. Proteins will be then read at 750nm and their concentrations would be calculated based on the standard values. Western Blotting 30  µl of sample will be loaded into the wells of SDS PAGE gels. 1X tris-glycine-SDS will be used as the running buffer. A known molecular weight ladder will also be run alongside the samples. Initially 70V current will be applied to aid the migration of proteins through the 5% stacking gel. Once the proteins reach the 10% separating gel, 90V current will be applied. After the proteins run through the gel, they will be transferred to the PVDF membrane with the help of liquid transfer. This membrane will be prepared by washing with 10% methanol for 5 seconds, ddH2O for 5 min and transfer buffer for 10 min. Liquid transfer will be carried out using the following steps. 1. Cold transfer buffer will be used to immerse a gel frame. To this gel frame a sponge pre soaked in transfer buffer will be placed Then a filter card, gel, PVDF membrane, another filter card and a second pre soaked buffer sponge will be placed in order starting from the first filter card. Proteins will be transferred with the help of electric current of 100V applied for one hour. After completion, membranes will be cut and treated with different antibodies.10% (w/v) Marvel milk solution will be used to wash the membrane for one hour at room temperature. This washing blocks the non-specific binding sites. The blocking solution will be then discarded and the antibody diluted to 10% (w/v) in Marvel milk solution will be added. This antibody coated membrane will be agitated overnight on a plate rocker at 4 °C. The next day there would be 3, 10 min washes with TSBT(Tris-Buffered Saline-Tween-20). During these washes the membrane vessel will be agitated in plate orbital shaker at room temperature. After completing the washing process, a secondary antibody specific to the primary antibody will be added. The steps for adding the secondary antibody are same as the primary antibody addition except for the fact that no overnight incubation is required and the secondary antibody will be incubated only for one hour while being agitated on the shaker at room temperature. The marker will also be stained using streptavidin-HRP secondary antibody. After performing the above step the membranes will be developed. Membrane development will be performed by placing the membrane in a tray and washing it with ECL reagent. The membrane would be then exposed for a certain period of time using CCD camera. Assay for ROS-DCFDA Stress Test Stock Solution Preparation The stock solution of Hanks Buffered Salt Solution (HBSS)will be prepared according to the manufacturers protocol. DCFDA(2,7-dchlorofluoroscein -diacetate) Assay To test ROS levels DCFDA test will be performed. Before conducting the DCFDA assay, the standardization of optimum concentrations of H2O2 and DCFDA for detecting cell stress should be performed. It is important to note that H2O2 should be added only sub-lethally and should not be added in proportion which may cause cell death. The PCI 13 and 30 cells will be plated out in two 24 well plates. 1ml of each type of cells plus RPM1640 10% FCS media will be added to 8 wells per plate and will be incubated overnight at 37 °C. The media will be removed the next day and increasing concentration of DCFDA will be added to both plates and the cells will be incubated with Tinfoil wrapping to prevent light exposure and incubated at 37oC for 30 min. The cells will be then washed and then cold HBSS will be added. After this step the cells will be stressed with increasing concentration of H2O2 (see diagram below). The cells will then be again wrapped in tin foil and placed on a rocking platform for 15 min. The same method will be followed for treating other wells with different concentrations of DCFDA. Experiments will be performed at least twice for each cell line. H2O2 will be removed after 15 min and cells will be trypsinised with 100microL trypsin and Versene. 800 microL of DPBS will be added to one of the 2 wells an d will be pipetted thoroughly so as to remove the cells from the well surface. This will be then transferred to the other well and then 1ml of solution would be transferred to Flow associated cell cytometry (FACS) tube for analysis. The same procedure will be carried for other sets of wells. DCFDA fluorescence would be measured using Gallios flow cytometer and results would be analysed in Kaluza program. Time Line For The Project During the month of May, all techniques such as Western Blotting, mRNA/protein extraction, Real Time PCR will be learnt. This time is indicated in red colour in the graph below. This will overlap with the time duration, from May to the end of June, during which hydrogen peroxide experiment will be performed as per written in the method section and the expression of HAGE will be monitored at both the mRNA and protein level. Also from the start of June to the end of July repeat experiments will be performed and if time permits, the effect of thermal stress on HAGE expression will also be investigated. This is indicated in the graph below. SUMMARY Cancer Testis Antigens (CTA) are antigens that are expressed in a variety of tumours. They are usually absent in normal tissues with the exception of testis and placenta where they are expressed as self tolerant antigens. Since these antigens have strong immunogenicity and their expression is mostly restricted to tumours, they are ideal targets for cancer immunotherapy. Therefore much research is ongoing for the identification of CTA. Recently helicase antigen HAGE was identified as a CTA and was found to be over-expressed in HSNSCC, AML and CML. Thus there might be a common link between these different types of cancers. Moreover ROS is known to be induced in all these tumours and it may be possible that ROS causes increased expression of HAGE. Thus the aim of this project would be to investigate the effect of oxidative stress on HAGE expression. HAGE expression would be analysed both at the m-RNA and protein level in two cell lines namely PCI 13 and PCI 30 using techniques such as m-RNA extraction, RT PCR, Western Blotting and Protein assay. The ROS level would be evaluated using the DCFDA assay. Since the mechanism of HAGE regulation is unknown, positive result in the project would help in elucidating a mechanism by which HAGE could be regulated.

Wednesday, September 4, 2019

Aristotles View Essay -- Aristotle Philosophy Essays

Aristotle's View Is life really about the 'money', the 'cash', the 'hoes', who has the biggest gold chain or who drives the shiniest or fastest car, who sells the most albums or who has the most respect? Aristotle challenges views, which are similar to the ones held and shown by rap artists such as Jay-Z and the Notorious B.I.G., by observing that everything in the universe, including humans, has a telos, or goal in life. He states that the goal of a human life is to achieve happiness or eudaimonia. I believe that Aristotle is completely correct in his reasoning of the purpose of human nature. He even explains how happiness is different for every person, and each different type of person has a different idea of eudaimonia. He then goes on to talk about how a person must do all things in moderation, not doing the excess but at the same time doing just enough. This idea, called the "golden mean of moderation" was the backbone support to Aristotle's idea of human telos because it concluded that living a virtuous life must be the same for all people because of the way human beings are built. Aristotle argued that the goal of human beings is happiness, and that we achieve happiness when we fulfill our function. Therefore, it is necessary to determine what our function is. The function of a thing, or its telos, is what it alone can do, or what it can do best. Like the function of the eye is to see, Aristotle declared the human being as the "rational animal" whose function...

Tuesday, September 3, 2019

Essay --

In my group, I was assigned the task to include all other relevant issues so I considered other intermediaries to help with the payment and goods transaction as well as security for the e-Business. Intermediaries to use to support your ebusiness As our business is a virtual organization (pure-play), we would require intermediaries to perform the payment and goods transaction as we are not interacting physically with our customers. Payment system Paypal Under Paypal, payments are made using a user’s existing account or with a credit card anytime, anywhere. Besides that, money can be sent directly to an email address of another PayPal user. Cost Open an Account Free Send money Free Withdraw Funds Free for $200.00 SGD or more, $1.00 SGD if up to $199.99 SGD to bank accounts in Singapore Add funds Free Receive Funds 2.9% + $0.50 SGD to 3.9% + $0.50 SGD Multiple currency transactions Exchange rate includes a 2.5% fee** Reasons for using Paypal for payment It allows faster transaction for sending and receiving payments. Electronic Catalogue WIX and social medias As we would not have staff in a physical shop to entertain customer’s enquiries, we would be making use of sites such WIX and social medias such as Facebook and Twitter to help provide customers with information about the business as well as the product. Reasons for using WIX and social medias The websites are free of charge. Shopping cart software In order to help customers keep track of their items, shopping cart software is also included in the WIX website. Reasons for using WIX shopping cart This eliminates the need to purchase an external shopping cart software. Delivery of purchase Our e-Business would require an intermediary to deliver the items purchased by custo... ...uyer claims that they did not receive their goods, Paypal would cover for the full amount as long as business follow the postage requirement and show evidence that the item was sent to the buyer’s address. Reasons for choosing the security methods In terms of protecting the e-Business database, firewall is an easy and less complex method as compared to other security methods such as VPN and KPI which requires key encryption. It is also easier to obtain simply through purchase and customize through filters unlike VPN which has complicated set ups and KPI which requires a KPI security service to implement the structure. As for protection against fraud, Paypal’s security system would be suitable as we are using Paypal for handling payment transaction. Hence, it would be easier to claim from Paypal should there be any fraud as they would have records of our transaction.

Monday, September 2, 2019

Lysergic Acid Diethylamide Essay -- Drugs Sixties Health Essays

Lysergic Acid Diethylamide The late sixties were a time filled with sex, drugs, and rock and roll. A huge part of American culture at the time was focused around these three things. Musicians possessed a tremendous amount of social influence, and like wise, society put a lot of emphasis on the lives and attitudes of musicians. Of the rock groups from this time period, the Beatles were by far the most influential. The British rock group was probably the most catalytic band in rock and roll history. Although they came together in the shadow of the Beatles, another band of that era was Jefferson Airplane. Jefferson Airplane was deemed the first of the San Francisco psychedelic rock groups. Jefferson Airplane was always considered to be a psychedelic rock group, but it was not until later in their existence that the Beatles fell into this category as well. Both groups earned this title for their creative style of rock as well as for their experimentation with drugs. Each of these groups wrote songs that alluded to drug use at one time or another. Two of the most criticized songs from these bands are Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds by the Beatles, and White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane. White Rabbit is a song latent with drug references. The connection with drugs in Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds is not as clear. Although John Lennon claims that he had no intention of making references to LSD in his song, the abstract lyrics and metaphoric language invite drug connotation. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds and White Rabbit mirror each other in their association with LSD and their allusions to Alice in Wonderland, but looking into these songs more deeply it is obvious that both artists were writing about escape; escaping reality. Lyserg... ...ame out of the late 1960's. Both songs were criticized for their relationships to drug use and possible influence on impressionable youths. It was the media, the fans, and the critics that Jefferson Airplane and the Beatles were trying to escape from. It was through their music, Alice in Wonderland, and a drug called LSD that they were able to do so. Works Cited "The Beatles Ultimate Experience Database: Songwriting and Recording Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." (Online) Available http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Frontrow/4853/dba08sgt.html, 25 September 2000. "KidsHeath." (Online) Available http://kidshealth.org/kid/grow/know_drugs_lsd_prt.htm, 26 September 2000. Larrea, J.J. "Fifty Years Later, LSD Gains New Popularity in High Schools." (Online) Available http://www.lycaeum.org/drugs/tryptamines/lysergic/lsd_use_up.html, 27 September 2000.

Sunday, September 1, 2019

Artificial System Of Sand Is Also Called The Mechanism Sand Essay

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